We did it people! We hit 100 reviews easy! We're going to Hollywood! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I wish...
Mailbox Time!
tokkyolove: If we did that though, there would be no point to the story. Have to make it somewhat feasible for the Joker after all. Yeah, who knows what the baby would do if it sensed danger. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Golem XIV: Ah, answers for another time my friend. You'll have to wait and see as to why all that happened. This chapter was more of a fun one since I wanted to make it peaceful for once. Hope you still enjoy it though!
Michelle Anders: Starfire was with the other Titans facing Cinderblock. Luck of the draw you could presume. Here's that update! Hope it was soon enough!
LostDemonessRaven: Yeah! I love it when I manage that! Hope this chapter keeps you on edge as well!
Bluedog197: Um... Rose didn't kill Joker... or do something to Harley... I do know what story you're talking about though. Maybe that California heat was messing with your head there friend. Oh well, I still hope you manage to enjoy the chapter :).
RPGPersona: It was already nightfall. That was why they had attacked with stealth then. Yeah, the poor poor couch. May it rest in pieces. Eh... you might not like Robin's reaction this chapter. But anyways, I hope you manage to enjoy it, in case you read the title.
Lazy Chipmunk: DisneyLand was a lot of fun, just so you know. When I was waiting in line, I was writing this. So I hope you enjoy it!
Twilight Sigma: Yeah, I kind of expound on a few things here. So I hope you enjoy the chapter Wyatt!
Gamerboychamp3: Yep, I finally introduced Batman into the story! And you know what, I should have used that idea for last chapter... oh well, it was still quite funny anyways. I hope you love this chapter too!
Since Last Time: 7 more favs, 4 more follows (Total: 50 favs, 64 follows)
Updated: October 10, 2016 9:55 P.M. Mountain Standard Time
Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say it! I don't own it!
Chapter Ten: Unrepentent Fluff in the Midst of Evil
Thrum! Thrum! Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!...
Late at night, in the middle of a smog filled sky, typical for cities where cars go go go even in the dead middle of the night, a chopper's rotors could be heard above the din of the city.
Some of the late night walkers looked up, seeing it fly over them through the city. The people shrugged, as they went back to their late night business. None even saw the man hanging on to the side of it. And if they had, they would have simply shrugged in ignorance. Or filmed the spectacular stunt on their smartphones to upload to YouTube.
The chopper flew on, going into an abandoned part of the city. All around, buildings could be seen in various states of disrepair. The man hanging on to the chopper looked down in disgust at a gang wars that were clearly going on down below in these slums. Why the Joker had to move his operations into the middle of this hellhole, he had absolutely no clue. And to think he had had to fight his way through all that to get to the Joker.
All he wanted for now was a nice bed for his aching back. Maybe a nice midnight snack to take the edge off his appetite. But there was still something he'd have to do to live to see that. He had failed, and the Joker didn't take kindly to failure. All he had to do though was simple.
The chopper stopped a few feet feet above an abandoned office building, a place checked well before hand for any cameras of any kind for their end of the deal. Al gratefully let go of the helicopter, landing on the ground in a crouch. His knees both popped gratefully as they finally got to stretch again. And then Al straightened himself to pop his back.
Al turned around again, as he helped to pull his men out of the chopper, who had awoken sometime during the flight back. They were all mostly out of their titanium uniforms, with what they still had on only covering their legs, and their necks. Al kind of felt bad for the idiots. But hey, a man had to do what he had to do to live.
After they had gotten off, the helicopter, flown by LexCorp pilots, took off towards the facility it came from far from the city. From there, it would receive a new paint job, new codes and fake serial numbers. The pilots would then be transferred to another country, and given new alias and an immense fortune. It would have been like the helicopter had never been flown before. And if it ever was found out, the records would be wiped clean. And no witnesses would be able to come forward to pin it to their boss.
Now, Al and his men had to do was wait for the inevitable.
They didn't have to wait long.
The door to the stairwell on the roof opened. And the Joker, in a bright red, green, and purple fur coat, danced out onto the roof. His arms were spread wide before him. As behind him stood a guy holding a boombox playing 'I'm Bad.' In his other arm was a video camera, filming the Joker in his moment of glory.
"Yes! Finally! After all these months! After all the preparation! I can finally, finally! Fix that crooked smile on that little birdie's face! Show me the alien!" The Joker exclaimed in a grand voice. Before he finally turned to his men. The guy had turned first, and had conveniently shut off the boom box when he saw only the men, and no alien.
The Joker's eyes examined every one of them, ending on Al. Then his wide smile dropped slightly when he realized something. He looked through the small ragtag group again, trying to find his prize that he oh so wanted to kill. Over and over again he looked, but no orange alien showed from their midst.
The Joker became angry. "Where is that alien bitch! I thought I told you to capture her!" The Joker yelled in a very angry voice.
Al was the brave one who shrugged. His men behind him were looking at him as if he was insane. "It's simple Mr. J., we couldn't find her. She wasn't in the Tower at all like you said she would be when we attacked it."
The cameraman conveniently backed up, already having a feeling as to what was coming. His belt shimmered in the light of the stairwell as hoped his partner had a plan in mind for what he was doing.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE WASN'T THERE!?" The Joker yelled with spit flying out of his mouth. His eyes slowly looking more and more insane.
Al actually smiled coldly at the Joker. Hell, the Joker had said he would get him to smile eventually. "Why it's rather simple boss. You see, even though we attacked late at night when we thought they would be asleep, they ended up going out of the Tower because Cinderblock attacked on the opposite side of town we were coming from. Meaning we had no clue about their whereabouts until sometime after we left it behind."
The Joker looked like the very picture of insanity. Which wasn't hard, since he mostly looked like that before. "IF SHE WASN'T IN THE DAMN TOWER! THAN WHY THE HELL DID YOU NOT STAY TO WAIT FOR HER!? I KNOW YOU'RE BETTER AT STEALTH THAN EVEN BATMAN HIMSELF!"
Al's smile widened a little more, as he delivered the news that would send the Joker over the edge. "Ironically. That was the exact reason we chose to leave instead of stay."
The Joker, and his men went stock still at that. All of them were in shock at what Al had just said. "Oh, I'm sorry. Didn't you know that apparently old Bats followed our trail here to Jump. Though I suspect Robin had his hand in it when he off and disappeared and all that."
The group of people remained shocked. During this time of shock, Al grabbed one of the men behind him and placed him in his spot. He then walked over to stand beside the Joker, as he leaned in to whisper into his ear.
"Also, he left me a message. He told me to say hi to you for Harley." With that, Al walked over to the stairwell where the cameraman was now hiding and still filming. Al stood in the spot next to who he figured out was Frankie. His gleaming white belt finally recognizable now that he had gotten close. He gave him a small smile and a punch to the shoulder as he turned to watch what would happen.
Fortunately for Al, unfortunately for the poor man he had grabbed, the Joker got out of his shocked state first. Within a second, he had his machine gun out, and he was pointing it at the man. Who was slowly starting to blink his eyes as he came out of his shocked state.
'Should have kept that armor on.' Al thought to himself.
Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang!...
The man fell to the ground, the look of surprise still on his face as his dead body hit the roof.
"THAT OLD CLONKER IS IN TOWN! WITH HIS LITTLE BIRDIE! AND HE SAYS MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND SAYS HI! HOW DARE YOU TELL ME SUCH A PREPOSTEROUS LIE AL! HOW DARE YOU!" He yelled in fury, as he continued to unload into the poor dead man.
Al quietly watched the show, along with Frankie. Whose face was slowly starting to turn green from what he was seeing. Though Al himself kept a calm facade. The Joker turned to the scared men behind the now beyond dead guy.
"WHERE ARE THE OTHERS! I COULD HAVE SWORN THAT I SENT AT LEAST TEN MEN WITH ALL THAT LEXCORP TECHNOLOGY ON THEM TO KIDNAP THE ALIEN! DON'T TELL ME YOU LOST IT ALL!" He shouted at the scared man.
"Well… um… boss… I'm afraid that… old Bats might have… c-c-captured them… and the technology." He said in a shaky scared voice.
The Joker screamed into the night air as he shot up that guy too. The sound of multiple gunshots with the screams of fury actually caused all the gang wars within a mile radius of the office to stop. As fear filled every man's soul at the insane sound. It was like the scream of the victim and the murderer all in one.
He directed his enraged face to the third cowering man. "YOU! DID YOU MANAGE TO AT LEAST GET A SHOT ON THAT OLD BAT FOR ME! TELL ME YOU DID! TELL MEEEEEEE!"
The man was now cowering on the ground as he shook his head. He was hoping that he wouldn't befall the fate of his comrades if he was submissive.
It just made it easier for the Joker to shoot him full of lead.
Al was about ready to leave the scene behind him as the fourth and final man was about to face the Joker's wrath. Frankie had left to puke after the second man had died with his head splattered all over the roof. And Al felt he might do the same himself if he had to watch one more.
"AND YOU! DID YOU AT LEAST FIND SOMEONE OTHER THAN OLD BATS IN THAT TOWER!? BETTER ANSWER CAREFULLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO END UP LIKE YOUR COMRADES!"
Fred was shaking from head to toe, when the Joker asked him that question. His fear suddenly disappeared, as he realized he could live. Fred actually smiled evilly.
"Yeah boss. I actually did find one of the lost Titans in the kitchen of the Tower." He said in a confident voice. Despite the bodies of his deceased comrades being all around him.
Al stopped turning and gaped at the man from the stairwell. What the hell was he talking… 'Oh no!'
"Lost Titan?" The Joker asked in a calmer voice. His curiosity having managed to save the man's life for the moment.
Fred visibly relaxed. "Yeah, it was the pale one on the team. Went by the name of Raven I think. It was a little too dark to really tell though. But boss, you won't believe it!"
The Joker was curious, but impatient. "Well then spit it out already! I don't have all night! I'm going to have to make a new plan no thanks to old Bats! And if this info ends up delaying that, I'll pump you full of lead!"
Fred was grinning widely despite the threat. "Apparently, there's a reason why she and that green pet on the team have been out of commission lately. The demonic bitch is pregnant."
Al froze up on the stairwell. As the Joker looked at the man with wide eyes. The man tapped the side of his head.
"I swear, I saw it with my own two eyes. Hell, I had just been about to shoot her up when stupid Batman came from the ceiling and saved her." Fred finished.
The Joker after a moment, finally started to laugh evilly. "Well then, I guess that mission wasn't a complete waste after all! Do you have any idea how bad teenage pregnancy actually is in the U.S. these days anyways? How many poor girls suffer from frowns because of this? And to hear a hero, a teenage hero is suffering from it… Man, the poor dearie must have the biggest frown on her face ever… fortunately I have my ways of turning frowns, upside down!"
The Joker continued to laugh evilly, as Fred breathed a sigh of relief. Al was seething over by the stairwell, his hand was dancing on the trigger of his laser gun. Looks like there was one more death for tonight.
"Oh, the oh so many things to do! So many things to plan now! All to help fix the smiles of two of the world's superheroes! I am so happy right now!" The Joker yelled, as he continued to laugh and dance wildly, while still holding his gun.
Fred, seeing he was going to live, started to skip happily to the stairwell. He wondered if he would get to have some fun with the pale Titan before the Joker fixed her up. He always did love a good looking pregnant girl. Especially if they had that special look of fear in their eyes. Just like what he had seen from his brief glimpse of her in the dark of the Tower. He oh so wanted to see it again, as he...
The thought going through his head brought an evil smile to Fred's face. Even as he started to go through the door of the stairwell.
The Joker was too busy laughing to himself to hear the laser shot. He also didn't hear the thud of a body hitting the floor of the roof. Heck, he didn't even hear the body that was dragged across the roof and thrown off it to the ground below.
He did, however, hear the rusted door creak when it opened again.
The Joker turned to see Al standing in the stairway. The fact that he was supposed to be dead on the ground around him didn't seem to register in his insane mind. "Al! Did you hear the great news!"
Al slightly winced at that. "Did you forget I was the one that delivered it to you Mr. J.?"
The Joker paused, as if in thought. Then he started to laugh again as his insanity bought the lie. "Well of course! How could I forget! Good job in presenting me with that little bit of detail good buddy! Now I know I have two smiles to fix while here in Jump! Man, a two for one deal! I absolutely love those!" The Joker went back to laughing to himself.
Al scowled as he walked into the stairwell. He hated that he had to lie about presenting the info, but he had no choice. The Joker wouldn't have been happy to learn that he had avoided taking 'blame' for his bad news. It also wouldn't help if he said he had just shot one of his best men either. Though in all honesty, the man had it coming to him. Al had always hated the cruel twisted man who served under him. He just sealed the nail of his coffin though when he revealed the info to the Joker.
He hoped the rats would give Fred's body a proper burial. In their stomachs. And in the crap of the sewage lines.
Al couldn't believe it, the one piece of info he had guarded for months, gone! Because of the imaginations of an insane twisted man! And no, he wasn't talking about the Joker.
Al wondered if he should just quit now and cut his losses. But then he realized if he quit now, he'd have both the Joker, and Batman on his heels. And he still wouldn't have gotten his revenge on the Boy Wonder for what he did to his face. Nor would there be anyone to help out the girl should she be captured.
Not to mention, Frankie would be quite pissed with him if he had them leave out on all that money.
But how could he extract his revenge now? When an innocent family was going to be involved in the mix. Could he possibly do that? Get revenge, at the expense of his humanity? He could handle kidnapping the alien, but the pregnant demoness...
'Lord, what have I gotten myself into.'
The Joker could still be heard laughing insanely in the background. Even as Al walked back into the interior of the office building. Conflicted at last as to what he should do.
Revenge, or appeasement.
...
Damn it. Why did being a villain have to be so hard.
Couple Weeks later, Titan's Common Room
"Hello Jump City. It has been a good three weeks now since the base of our hometown heroes was attacked by none other than Masterblaster Al himself. Along with several heavily armed men that had been under his command. The police released in a report today that they couldn't get the purpose out of the men captured as to why they attacked our so called heroes. The only thing they got out of them was that they had been nearly mauled by a large green and terrible beast! A terrible thing to face I believe."
A large groan was heard in the room. "Is that man ranting about all of us again!?" Bumblebee shouted from the kitchen counter incredulously.
"Yeah. Why does he have to be the only source of news lately? Why can't they put on someone else who talks about the weather or something?" Beast Boy groaned to himself on the couch.
"Because all the other news outlets aren't getting as good of news as he has been delivering apparently." Jinx said from the corner of the room.
G. Gordon Godfrey continued. "Ever since the first attack by Masterblaster Al, our heroes have been off. What with the disappearance of their leader for a whole month, and the grounding of the Beast and the Demoness on the team. They even called in a speedster and a little Bee to help us out."
"Oh, so now he's sticking to insulting us. Bet the people are really buying that up." Beast Boy said sarcastically.
"Now though, since the second attack, they've not only grounded their alien powerhouse! But they've called in a former villain to protect us from an ever increasing crime rate! And not just any villain! But the former leader of the Hive-Five to boot!"
"Oh he did not just say that." Jinx growled out.
"It's fine Jinxie. I don't think you're a villain." Kid Flash said with a smile next to her.
"What have I told you about calling me that!" She shouted at him as she stormed off.
"What? I thought you woved that name." He called to her in a childish voice as he followed after her.
"Now folks. I don't want you to think I'm just criticizing our heroes and all that. But we need to face the truth eventually. Our heroes, these vigilantes! Are failing to do their jobs they volunteered to do! Crime is at an all time high! People are scared to walk our streets! Businesses are suffering from constant damage! So the question is, when is someone even going to do something about our vigilante problem-"
Click! TV shuts off.
"Well, glad to see that good old Gordon is being as hypocritical as ever." Beast Boy said to himself. Even as he looked over to Jinx. Who had sparks of pink bad luck energy coming off her body from her anger.
"Alright Jinxie! I know just the thing to cheer you up! A nice, big, fresh hot-" Kid Flash was saying as he appeared from nowhere next to her.
A spark of bad luck hit his knee, and Kid Flash suddenly tripped backwards, letting out a small scream of surprise in the process. The box he had been carrying went flying up into the air. Before it opened, revealing a nice, hot, extra cheesy pizza.
That fell back to Earth onto his face.
Jinx took one look down, not sure if she should be surprised at his clumsiness, or at the fact that he had actually gotten her a pizza without eating it first. After a few more moments, she chuckled at the sight. She felt oddly better now for some reason now.
"You're right Wally, I'm feeling better already." She said, before she wiped a thing of sticky cheese off his face with her fingers, and put it in her mouth. Wally just glowered up at her from the floor as she continued to eat off him. A wide smirk was on her face. "Oh, you know you're loving it, so don't even try to deny it."
No one could tell if it was the pizza sauce, or the blood rushing to his cheeks that made Kid Flash so red.
Beast Boy chuckled to himself. Things had been, interesting to say the least since Jinx had arrived. To see her and Kid Flash interact was almost borderline comedy for him. Although that had only been one of a few things that had happened in the past couple weeks.
Cyborg had of course given his deceased couch a proper funeral in the back of the Tower. He had also gotten a new one that was a light blue, crescent shaped, and slightly longer than the other one. It also had a large symbolic black T in the design, with the bottom line being in the middle, and the horizontal line running along the length of the couch.
Not to mention, it almost felt like you could sink into it with how comfy it was. More than one catnap had been taken in the past few weeks on it.
But it didn't seem like Cyborg had fully gotten over the loss of his last couch yet. Since he was in a corner of the room doing his annual grieving for it. Which involved a picture of it in his hands, and a cascade of tears falling from his single eye. As he reminiscenced over the good times he had on the couch from before. Napping on it, beating Beast Boy at Super Mega Monkeys, making Raven's book explode, beating Beast Boy at Mortal Kombat, arm wrestling Robin, beating Beast Boy at Zombies: Chainsaw Unleashed… most of them involved Beast Boy.
Bumblebee was right there by his side. Comforting him in his time of grief. She did it every time, and didn't complain about it. Even though Cyborg said nothing about it, he was grateful for it nonetheless.
She had decided to not tell him the truth about the old couch. She knew that he'd eventually get over it, heck, he would soon be glad to have an 'innocent' couch for his metallic rear to sit in again. So if he knew the couch from before had still been innocent…
'Would he be angry, saddened, shattered, or a mixture of the three?' Bumblebee wondered to herself. While she continued to rub circles on his bald head.
Beast Boy let out a yawn as he stretched his limbs. Making sure he didn't disrupt the valuable cargo resting on his lap. His eyes looked down from Cyborg to the pale empath resting on his leg. She was dressed in only a large blue shirt and sweatpants. Her feet were bare. Beast Boy smiled down at her
You see, if it was possible, he and Raven had become even more inseparable than ever before since the attack.
When Beast Boy was training, Raven was closeby watching him. When Beast Boy was washing the dishes, Raven was right there next to him. When Beast Boy napped on the roof, you would find Raven curled up next to him. Hell, even the simple duty of doing the laundry was done together by them. Even though it only required one Titan. And when he took those catnaps on the couch, you could be damn sure that Raven was right there next to him.
The two had really become inseparable. He contributed it to some demon thing that makes them draw closer to their mate in times of danger. And honestly, he didn't mind.
Beast Boy gently rubbed his hand through his sleeping pregnant girlfriend's violet hair. She was getting so big lately, and even though the baby was only at around seven months now, Raven looked huge. Though none dared to tell her that.
But it only served to make her more beautiful in his eyes.
He was smiling for a second longer, when it suddenly became a frown. As his thoughts drifted off to the other couple in the Tower.
He and Raven might have been closer than ever. Robin and Starfire, however, had become the exact opposite. They were, as to say, back to square one. Heck, you could argue and say that they had crossed over into negative territory.
It was more on Robin's part though, since he was always holed up in his cave (office) now. Working alongside his mentor to figure out about possible locations where the Joker could be hiding. They had been receiving help online from the Oracle, but so far no luck.
Robin only came out every once in awhile to eat, train, fight crime, give duties, or sleep. But he never talked when he ate. He never conversed with the others as he trained. When he fought the other villains, it was with a single focused ferocity that left most of them begging for mercy. G. Gordon Godfrey could rant all he wanted, but crime was actually at an all time low for once. The people weren't even scared of meeting criminals anymore, no, they were afraid of facing the wrath of the vengeful bird. The duties were short notice, random, and given with all the air of authority as a general to his army.
And when he went to sleep, he changed the lock codes on his door every time. So no one would be able to get in to bother him. Or more specifically, a very heartbroken alien he refused to even speak to. Much less, acknowledge. If she was even touched in a fight though, that villain had hell to pay from Robin.
The last thing he had said to her was that she wasn't allowed to leave the Tower anymore. And that had been the day after the attack a couple weeks ago. The day after that, Jinx had been called in to fill in for Starfire's vacancy. The duties the active Titans fulfilled were random. From searching the ruins of the city, to patrolling the route where people had been known to disappear and never be seen again.
Though, Beast Boy had to admit, that hadn't been the only things the Boy Wonder had gotten done.
When Cyborg had taken breaks in his grief and patrols, he followed Robin's orders in installing more defenses to the Tower. Some of which was made possible by a donor named Bruce Wayne. He had no idea how the man even got his hands on some of this stuff, but he was grateful for it anyways. Nothing but the best protection for his two little sisters after all.
The new defenses included DNA scanners that did a scan of the whole building every two minutes. High powered laser turrets were in place all over the Tower should any trace come up negative. After the last attack, several more power sources had been installed to the Tower. With alerts for if one of them would somehow shut off. There was also sensors added to the ground along the outside and underground of the Tower. Robin didn't want to risk anyone sneaking in from underneath the Tower.
Though there was one more thing he did have installed that wasn't for defense. Rather, it was for escape. It was an escape pod that when activated, would launch itself and it's occupants out of the roof of the Tower and to a disclosed location somewhere in the world. Robin hadn't implied anything when he ordered Cyborg to install it, but if you had seen his eyes beneath the mask, you could have sworn he had glanced at the depressed alien resident of the Tower before he walked out of the room.
Beast Boy sighed to himself. 'It's just like after Tokyo all over again. He's pushing Star and the rest of us away, and he's refusing to tell us why.' He thought sadly to himself. He had his suspicions as to why, but that was they were. He didn't have any solid evidence to point towards the Boy Blunder's drastic change in behavior. Though it could have been because of Batman and the deal with the Joker. Batman was to say, an even rarer sight to see than Robin.
Beast Boy wondered how the man even ate when he never came out of the room except to check over the defenses.
Any further thought from him on the depressing subject going through his mind though was derailed when Raven moved her head again. Allowing herself to burrow deeper into Beast Boy's side while she continued to nap.
He let out a happy sigh as he allowed his hand to lower from her hair and to gently hold one of her hands. Sure, the Titans might be facing trouble now, but he still had his Raven with him. And for the moment, that was enough to calm his mind. He studied her face, taking in the way it seemed so relaxed now. He could look at it all day if he wanted to.
Ding!
'Ooh, the latest craving is finished!' Beast Boy thought excitedly as he jumped off the couch. Making sure that Raven was laid down gently as he did so.
Still, Raven was roused when she felt her mate moving away from her, and in her sleep, she tried to reach out her hand for him again. It was like watching a kitten blindly looking for its mother. She even let out a small, and in his opinion, cute whine as her hand grabbed nothing but thin air. He was quick to get her craving out of the oven.
No more than five seconds later, Beast Boy was back to her. Holding a weird steaming something with an oven mitt. Raven was still a little drowsy from her nap, but then she took one whiff, and her eyes snapped wide open.
Her violet eyes feasted upon the sight of her latest craving. A twist on the French delicacy that Beast Boy had Kid Flash's help in making.
Tofu croissants.
Raven said nothing as she pulled Beast Boy in for a loving kiss. Beast Boy had to set the large croissant he was holding to the side since his mind melted with the kiss. When he had done that, he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her as close as the bump in her belly would allow.
He pulled away for a sec and pecked her on the cheek. "Have I told you how much I loved you lately?" He asked her as he kissed her other cheek and rubbed her stomach.
Raven let out a happy moan. "I believe you might have mentioned it a few times." She said as Beast Boy pecked her on the nose.
Beast Boy smiled a little wider. "I love you."
Raven smiled a little wider as well. "I love you too." Raven said, as she pulled him in to kiss him again.
The kiss lasted for several minutes, with neither one of them wanting to end it. Why would they? When they wanted to be as close to each other as possible.
Unfortunately, before the kiss could lead to anything more serious, a loud shout sounded from the corner of the room.
"Oh you two better not be starting up the nasty business on my brand new couch again!"
Beast Boy groaned as he turned to see CyBlock now glaring at the two. It seems like his annual grieving for his old couch was over. It was also the eighth time since he got the new couch that he had defended its chastity.
"Come on Cy. Do you have to ruin every romantic moment I have with my pregnant girlfriend!" Beast Boy shouted, as he pointed to the blushing, yet still happy Raven.
"If those moments are going to lead to the besmirchment of my new clean smelling couches innocence! Then you can bet your damn green ass I will!" CyBlock shouted back.
Before Beast Boy could retort, Bumblebee slapped CyBlock on the back of his head. Though, it didn't really seem to have much force behind it. Still, it turned him from his alter persona CyBlock back to Cyborg. "C'mon Sparky, lay off the two a bit. You've only given them the speech like what, seventeen times." Bumblebee said to him in a fake harsh tone. Her face a perfect match for it.
Cyborg glanced back at Bumblebee guiltily. "Sorry." He said.
Bumblebee smiled a little at him. "Just leave them be Cy. I'm sure we can trust them to not mess with the innocence of your couch." She said to him in a plain voice.
'I'll leave that part to myself.' Bumblebee thought naughtily to herself.
Cyborg smiled back to her. "Okay. I'll try Karen." The two continued to smile at each other.
The couple that was sitting on the couch rolled their eyes. Seeing the way the two were acting towards each other. It was almost like seeing their old selves again. Though there was a lot less fighting that was involved. And it seemed like the two were bonding faster than they had at the start of their relationship.
The two wondered to themselves how long it would be until they finally hooked up. Before the smell of the large croissant next to them reminded them of their appetites. The two, mainly Raven, dug into it with vigor.
Cyborg and Bumblebee looked back at the two with disgust. One thing that wasn't commonly known about Bumblebee was that she loathed tofu almost as much as a Yankees fan loathed the Red Sox.
"You thinking what I'm thinking Sparky." She said to him in a quiet voice.
"The keys are hanging by the car." Cyborg replied.
The two of them sneaked out of the room. Bumblebee had managed to finally talk some sense into him to going out to the city to eat his meat last week. So that's what the two had snuck out to do every day since then. They only had to make sure they showered and brushed their teeth before they came in and no one was left the wiser.
Kid Flash had ran off sometime during this to go shower off and 'pout' to himself as he thought of a way to cheer up his girlfriend that didn't involve humiliating himself. This left Jinx the lone person in the room not doing anything. She rolled a spark of pink magic in her hands, absolutely bored with herself now that there was nothing to do. She thought about turning on the TV screen again, but then she decided against it. If she had to listen to G. Gordon Godfrey say one more blasted thing about her past, then she was going to explode! And that would only make the arrogant reporter right.
She looked to the doors, deciding she might as well do something to relieve the boredom. When they slid open, revealing a floating, yet depressed looking Starfire. Jinx stopped immediately. "Oh, hey Starfire."
Starfire tried to go for a smile, but found that she couldn't. It was more like a painful version of what Raven once tried to do. "Hello friend Jinx. Isn't today one of the most fabulous of afternoons that you have laid the eyes on?" Starfire tried to sound peppy, but failed.
Jinx lost her own smile at that, as her face became solemn. "Robin locked you out again last night, didn't he?"
Starfire stopped trying to show she was happy at that. As she fell into Jinx's arms and started to cry. Jinx was very surprised by the sudden weight, but managed to stay upright.
"Oh friend! What is the wrong with me! Am I the ugly in his eyes now?! Does he not want me close anymore?! I thought he had loved me! And he's… he's…" Starfire couldn't continue as she continued to sob.
Jinx was looking down at the girl with wide uncomfortable eyes. She then looked around the room as the girl continued to squeeze her while she cried. "Um… er… a little help?" Jinx finally said.
Raven stopped in her eating to sadly look over at the sad alien. She did a come hither gesture to Jinx, who gladly accepted the offered help. With some difficulty she managed to bring the sobbing Starfire over to the couch. Where Raven helped to get Starfire to let go of Jinx and sit on the couch next to her and Beast Boy. Starfire continued to sob into one of her hands, while Raven gripped the other.
"You know he does love you, right?" Raven asked. But Starfire only cried harder.
"If he loved me, then why does he do the pushing of me away?! Why does he spend all his time in that room with the Bat and the Oracle?! Why did he have to do the grounding of me when I am perfectly capable of defending myself from the Joker?!" Starfire sobbed out, as the pale empath tried to comfort her.
"It's going to be fine Starfire. Robin does still love you, he's just… in his damn stupid obsessed mode again." Raven said to her in a gentle gravelly voice.
"But I did the thinking that it was only the vile villain Slade who could do the pulling away of Robin from us! How can this low life worm who made an attempt on my life be any different than him!" Starfire shouted in anger.
Raven didn't flinch away. "We don't know what it was like for him back in Gotham. For all we know, this Joker and this Masterblaster Al could be even worse villains than Slade." Raven said to her as she continued to rub small circles on her back.
Starfire started to sob again. She hadn't really thought about it like that in the past few weeks. It was hard to imagine someone being worse than Slade. "Oh, I am sorry friend Raven. I didn't mean to do the taking out of my anger on you! I am just so the hopeless about ever getting boyfriend Robin to come out of his office and spend the time with me. If it wasn't for the joy I feel whenever I see the sight of your bumgorf, I wouldn't even be able to float around anymore!" Starfire managed to say before she turned away and started to cry again.
Raven felt bad for Starfire, while she started to curse the Boy Blunder in her mind. Thanks to the mental link, she did know he still loved Starfire, but there was also an overwhelming fear with it. As if he was afraid to love her now. But how could Raven tell Starfire that? It would only make her feel worse.
She looked to Beast Boy as Starfire continued to sob heavily. Lost as to what she should do. Beast Boy, who had been silent throughout, seemed to have an idea. He gently grabbed Starfire on the shoulder.
"Hey Star, did you say you only feel the joy when you see Raven's bumgorf?" He asked her.
Starfire weakly nodded her head, as she continued to cry. Raven wondered what it was he was doing. He let a small smile form on his face.
"What about if you got to feel her instead?" He asked her.
Starfire stopped crying, as she looked up curiously. "But isn't your little bumgorf still resting in the womb?" She asked.
Raven felt a hard kick to her bladder, making her wince at that moment. "Trust me when I say this Star. I really wish that she was just resting in there."
Starfire was confused on that part. As she tried to connect it in her mind, but even with all her knowledge on Tamaranean pregnancies she was coming up blank. It had never been known for a child to kick the host who was giving it life.
Raven rolled her eyes at Starfire's confusion, before she used her free hand to move Starfire's over her stomach. As the private Raven let her beat friend feel her belly. Starfire was slightly stunned by this, but allowed Raven to do what she was doing. Through the fabric of her shirt, Starfire could feel the hardness of Raven's bulging skin. But she couldn't feel what Raven said was the kicks of the baby.
After a moment, she was starting to feel sad again. Her curiosity being smashed by the crushing reality of the world. When she felt it. Starfire looked wide eyed down at Raven's stomach again, as Raven smiled and moved her hand to a different spot.
The baby kicked against her hand three times in a row. And Starfire was utterly amazed, as she moved her hand of her own free will. The baby seemed to know where it would go, and kept on kicking against it. Causing Raven no small amount of pain.
That was when Starfire felt it, the rushing of all the depression from her system. Only to be replaced by an almost endless amount of the joy! Starfire looked up to Raven and Beast Boy's smiling faces. She didn't even notice Jinx's disinterested face leaning against the couch.
"EEEEEEEEH!" Starfire shouted as she dragged both Beast Boy and Raven in for a bone crushing hug. The two were completely unprepared for it, but allowed Starfire to enjoy her moment of happiness. While the hug was crushing, it was quick as Starfire felt the baby kicking frantically at her in fear of being crushed. But this only fueled her joy more as she flew up into the air and started doing the laughing to herself.
Jinx was staring at her from the ground, slightly confused as to why Starfire was so happy. "It was just a small baby kick. How can that be so important to her?" She questioned to herself.
Beast Boy heard it. "Maybe if you tried it for yourself." He suggested to her.
Jinx turned around to them and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like feeling a baby kick against my hand will make me feel happy." She said in a sarcastic voice.
Yet, she decided to try it anyways for the heck of it. She had never really gotten to feel a baby kick before, since no pregnant woman had ever trusted her to be within a hundred feet of them. So she had to admit to herself that she was curious.
She sat down next to Raven on the couch and placed her pale hand on Raven's bulge. She didn't really care about what she was doing, she was only doing it for the heck of it. But for some reason, all she was feeling was Raven's hard skin. The baby wasn't even moving at all now! And it had been kicking up a frenzy for Starfire!
Jinx found herself getting mad. "So the little ****er will kick for Star all she wants, and she gives me nothing!" Jinx yelled as she moved her hand to different spots, trying to find any movement. Raven looked to Beast Boy with a worried look. He returned it.
"Um, Jinx. Maybe you could wait a little bit and we could tell you when she's moving-" Beast Boy started to say.
Jinx sank her palm hard against Raven's stomach, making Raven wince slightly from the soreness. "Oh, I am not waiting for this little prick in here to decide when she wants to move again! She is going to let me feel what Starfire felt, whether she likes it or notttttttttttttttt!"
The not was drawn out because at that moment, the baby delivered the mother of all kicks against where Jinx's hand had been. Sending Jinx's hand, and Jinx herself across the room before she slid to a stop in front of the sliding doors. Beast Boy and Raven sat stock still on the couch. Though Raven was clutching her stomach from that hit.
Jinx slowly got up from off the ground, her eyes looking borderline murderous. "Why that little-" She was starting to shout.
The doors slid open. "Oh Jinxie!" Kid Flash shouted from behind her. The biggest of smiles on his face as he had only a towel wrapped around his waist. "I think I know the perfect way to cheer you up now. All you need is a little bit of love from… … uh…" Kid Flash suddenly couldn't talk. As Jinx turned around and gave him a glare so harsh that it put Raven's to shame.
"Um… you don't want that." He said to Jinx in a slightly scared tone.
She suddenly had a hold of him by the ear. Before she started to drag him from the room. "Nobody better bother us for the next two hours! Unless they want to he a dead man, woman, or baby!" Jinx shouted over her shoulder, her cat like eyes still blazing as the doors closed behind her.
Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire were left in the room. Shocked at what had just transpired.
"I don't even want to know." Raven said to herself.
"I'm not sure if friend Kid is either going to die, or about to have the best time of his life." Starfire said from the air.
Beast Boy looked like he was listening to something, when he started to smirk. "Don't worry. I know he's going to live."
Starfire looked at him confused. But shrugged her shoulders. "How about we do the watching of the Disney?" She suggested.
Beast Boy smiled to that. "Why not?"
Raven shrugged her shoulders, not minding either way. She wasn't tired or hungry anymore. Though if her baby kept on kicking her bladder, she was going to have to make a run for the bathroom.
Starfire gleefully turned on the DVR and looked through the movies available. The widest of smiles on her face as she looked at each one. Beast Boy turned to Raven and smiled at her.
"Looks like she is okay for now." He whispered.
Raven smiled back, before she grimaced. "Still, let's try not to mention Robin again to her."
Beast Boy sighed. "Alright. Let's just try to keep Star happy in the meantime."
"Ooh! This is one of my favorites!" Starfire said excitedly as she chose her movie at last.
Beast Boy and Raven looked up at the screen just in time to read the words 'Princess and the Frog.' He looked to her and smiled again. She smiled back as she cuddled into his warmth.
Starfire sat down next to the couple. Feeling happier than ever to be with her two friends. Robin was gone from her mind at the moment. And that was a blessing in itself.
Besides a dark lonely office in the Tower, things were peaceful for our Titans. As they finally received a break from the evil that had infested Jump City.
But no one is to be sure as to how long that break will last.
Author's Notes:
Well, that chapter was more of a fun one than anything else. I actually rather enjoyed writing it to be honest. Even though I left no inclination of when and where the Joker will strike. That there will remain my secret. All you guys have to know for now is that the Joker knows about Raven's baby. And he seems eager to do something about it.
Any suggestions as to what you guys think the Joker's plan will be? Will he be able to get his hands on Starfire, Raven, or both? Will Dick stop being a dick and get his act together? Or will his obsession drive the two girls directly into the Joker's waiting hands?
Till Next Time
Allen